In statements to Lusa, the association's president, Valdemar Rodrigues, complained that two years ago the ICNF requested updated documentation, as he says is customary, and that the process remains incomplete.

“The process is stalled. For over a year, they haven't responded to any of our requests for clarification. About 30 days ago, we asked the director of the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests in Lisbon for clarification, and we still haven't received any response,” he pointed out.

According to the hunter, “there are several hunting associations waiting, some for more than two years, and Soeira [also in the municipality of Bragança] is one of them,” which has contributed to “exaggerated poaching,” because “there is no enforcement,” and also to an additional cost for hunters.

Valdemar Rodrigues explained that, because the association is closed, the hunters who are part of it have to hunt in municipal areas, “when there is space,” and “pay a high fee,” which can range from 15 to 30 euros per day. If the association were open, they would only pay an annual hunting fee.

Losses

This situation is also causing losses to farmers in Soutelo and neighbouring villages, within the Montesinho Natural Park, due to the lack of wild boar control.

One of the affected farmers is José Carlos Rodrigues, one of the largest chestnut producers in the municipality of Bragança, who harvests 30,000 tons per year, and this season he could not escape the damage caused by wild boars.

Weather conditions caused a drop in fruit production, but the farmer also complains about the thousands of kilos of chestnuts eaten by wild boar. “Between Rabal and Soutelo, it’s a disgrace. That’s where they started the breeding, and 20 or 30 wild boars appear in the chestnut groves. They ate a lot of chestnuts,” he told Lusa, adding that some groves were fenced and the animals passed under the fence.

Several hectares of chestnut trees were ploughed by the wild boars, with the land completely turned over. The chestnuts they left behind can no longer be harvested with machinery, increasing the loss for the farmer, who had to pay people to collect them for him.

“The Minister of Agriculture has two options: either he wants agriculture or he wants hunting, but he has to choose one. If he wants to hunt, he has to help farmers with the loss of income. It's already happening to us with the dried-up chestnut trees, and now the wild boar is adding fuel to the fire. Therefore, the Minister is the one who has to solve the problem. Or we'll create two jobs and the land will be overgrown,” he criticized, emphasizing that the wild boar is causing “increasingly” damage.

Damage

Contacted by Lusa, the ICNF clarified that “the request for the new concession of the Soutelo da Gamoeda Associative Hunting Zone is in the final stages of processing, with a view to publishing the concession order,” confirming that clarifications had already been requested on the matter through the Federation of Associations of Hunters from Trás-os-Montes and Douro.

When questioned about how the affected farmers can be supported and compensated, the ICNF did not respond, saying only that “requests for density correction can be made when it is not possible to maintain the area.”

"To address situations of overpopulation and consequent damage to agriculture," through the entities that manage hunting areas, both associations and parish councils, adding that "34 requests for correction of the density of big game species" were authorized.

Between 2020 and 2022, the ICNF, together with the University of Aveiro, developed a Strategic and Action Plan for Wild Boar in Portugal in 2022, which allowed for a "national estimate of 277,385 wild boars in mainland Portugal, with this value possibly varying between 163,157 and 391,612 wild boars."

Overabundance

"The mainland national territory presents an overabundant wild boar population, and this overabundance may be particularly relevant in peri-urban areas and in areas where crops (e.g., cornfields) constitute an important food source," the document states.

The plan also affirms that, although "traditional hunting activities are not sufficient to control the increase in the wild boar population..." Wild boars, “they continue to be the most effective and widespread process.”

The ICNF told Lusa that an update to the study was recently requested to understand if measures such as the possibility of hunting wild boars year-round have had an impact on population control.